Wimbledon men final 2010 : Rafael Nadal ready for Final against Tomas Berdych
Tomas Berdych just won his match against the Serbian third-seed Novak Djokovic 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 in only two hours and 18 minutes. This granted him access to the first final of his career against another champion after Roger Federer: Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard won today 6-4 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 against Scotland’s Andy Murray, who came very close to entering the final for the first time in his career.
Berdych was interviewed before the results of Nadal and Murray’s confrontation. When asked if he looked for a certain strategy depending on the player that would be in the final, he replied: “Well, definitely not. They're still playing. In tennis, you have no chance to choosing your opponent. So the better is gonna win. The one is gonna be waiting for me in the final. Even if it's Rafa or Andy, it's tough to be finding some, you know, special tactics or anything for them. They both have some experience with the Grand Slam finals. Me, not. So I will try just keep, you know, concentrate for myself and playing my tennis.”
The 6 foot 5 Berdych has reached the Grand Slam semi-finals for the second time in his career, and now appears to be unbeatable. The 12th seed Berdych’s best performance was at the 2010 French Open in Grand Slam tournament. On his way to the semi-finals, he overcame three ranked opponents in straight sets: No. 19 John Isner in the third round, 2010 Wimbledon semi-finalist Andy Murray in the fourth round, and No. 14 Mikhail Youzhny in the quarter-finals. He unfortunately lost in the semi-finals to Robin Söderling 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 3-6, who was defeated by Nadal in this year’s Wimbledon quarter-finals.
The Spanish tennis player, Nadal, is a phenomenon on clay court, which is the reason for his nickname “The King of Clay.” Nadal won the Olympic gold medal in Singles in 2008, and has a record 18 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments. He was ranked under Roger Federer as World No. 2 for a record of 160 weeks, before becoming number one from August 2008 to July 2009. Roger Federer then won the Wimbledon Championships crown, making Nadal, his ultimate rival, drop to World No. 2.
Nadal had to withdraw from last year’s Wimbledon Championships after it was confirmed that he was suffering from tendinitis in both of his knees. He was then the first champion not to defend his title since Goran Ivanišević in 2001. In August 2009, Toni Nadal, the star’s uncle, announced his return to play at the Rogers Cup in Montreal. He lost in its quarter-finals to Juan Martín del Potro. This defeat kicked him out of the top 2, which had not happened since the 25th of July, in 2005. His World No. 2 ranking was taken by Scottish Andy Murray in August 2009.
The Scot was the favourite when facing Nadal, as he was the sole British still standing at the semi-finals. If Nadal had lost, the Briton Murray would have reached the final—an event that did not happen since Fred Perry in 1936. The Scot was the only hope of a home-grown champion at this year’s Wimbledon, which had last occurred 74 years ago.
Nadal hugged the Scot out of sympathy and of good sportsmanship after their match. He also expressed in an interview to BBC Sport his respect for the tennis player: "It was a very, very good match for me. To beat Andy you have to play your best tennis, it's always a big challenge and it was an amazing victory for me against one of the toughest opponents in the world."
Nadal is back and is ready to win the trophy again, after having been unable to compete as champion for the Wimbledon 2009. Is he ready to face Berdych's in the men's Singles championship? We'll all soon find out.
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